Originally published: March 25, 2022
March 25 Face of the Day: John Staup
John Staup is helping make local students “Shine Bright.”
Staup, 39, was born and raised in Omaha, and he still lives there today. He attended Omaha Gross Catholic High School and graduated in 2000. He then went off to college at the University of Iowa for a few years before returning home to finish his degree at Bellevue University.
Staup currently serves as the director of talent acquisition at Omaha Public Power District, where he’s been for almost five years. He works with a team of recruiters, and they hire roughly 350 full-time workers and 1,600 contractors per year.
“That’s the service of critical infrastructure,” he said. “We gotta keep the lights on.”
Staup and several of his colleagues recently spent their time working across the river in Council Bluffs, though, as the crew volunteered to help pack up “Shine Bright” boxes for United Way of the Midlands this week. According to Carmen Steele, senior manager of communications for United Way, 400 volunteers from both sides of the Council Bluffs-Omaha metro area signed up to help pack 4,000 “Shine Bright” boxes at the Mid-America Center, which will be distributed to kindergarteners and sixth- and ninth-graders across the Council Bluffs Community School District and Omaha Public Schools.
Each box contains full-size containers of various hygiene products, including dental items, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo and more. United Way of the Midlands President and CEO Shawna Forsberg said that with current inflation issues, many metro families are having a tough time economically as prices continue to rise.
Untied Way is stepping in to help take some of that weight off their shoulders. United Way held a similar event last August, and Staup and the OPPD crew were also there. This year, he said he received an email stating that OPPD had some of the most volunteers across all shifts Wednesday through Friday. He said they really enjoy the experience last year, and when they learned that it was happening again they didn’t hesitate to sign back up.
Outside of work, Staup loves spending time with his family and coaching youth basketball. Staup is a big sports guy, and he loves running the Mid-City Mambas basketball squads in Omaha with Terry O’Donnell, Omaha Gross’ new athletic director. He said it brings him joy to help younger generations hone their skills and enjoy the game as much as he does.
Forsberg said United Way will be organizing another “Shine Bright” box packing event in August. Staup said he’ll be there.